The Wages of Sin
by RoyalNonesuch
Summary: AU Fiction. You can't spell murder without Augustus Kolya. After an elegant dinner party at the stately Weir manor turns violent, Detective Kolya is called in to untangle a web of lies and discover the killer.


Chapter one

**_Rain_**

Rain? Always a bad sign, at least for him. As Detective Augustus Kolya stepped out of his hansom cab he quickly glanced up at the sky with a look of disgust on his face and tightened his overcoat. A mere twenty minutes ago he had been enjoying a decent meal at his warm London flat, far away form the inclement weather. Clemency wasn't his business, however, and tonight he had a job to do.

It had been a very wet October and that had certainly not helped the efforts to curtail the recent tuberculosis outbreak in London. If the ever present threat of disease weren't bad enough. however, having to work 14 hour days investigating a recent string of murders had left Kolya in an even worse mood than he was generally apt to be found in. Tramping through the mud covering the walkway up to Lady Elizabeth Weir's stately mansion, just on the outskirts of London, he checked his watch to determine exactly when he arrived for the purposes of his investigation.

Before he had time to even knock, the door in front of him abruptly opened and in its place stood a visibly shaken man of medium build and some refinement as evidenced by his attire.

In a sudden burst of panic the man, obviously interrupted in his flight from the home by Kolya's presence, threw his arms over his face in a defensive gesture and shouted, "Please don't kill me, I'm just a scientist!"

More mused than surprised, Kolya calmly pulled out his badge and showed it to the terrified man. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that. My name is Detective Kolya, Scotland Yard." His words carried about them an air of indescribable menace as he cracked an ever so slight smile.

The flustered scientist stared at the detective slightly agape still holding himself in a somewhat defensive posture. Suddenly, as though a light bulb went on, the scientist realized that the detective was awaiting a reply.

"Oh, I'm Dr. Rodney Mckay. You're awful fast. I was just about to... " Rodney said half to himself. He held out his hand. Kolya pushed past Dr. Mckay without so much as acknowledging the friendly gesture and went into the entrance hall.

"I hope you weren't entertaining any thoughts of leaving, Doctor" Kolya said as he took a mental inventory of his surroundings. "Having been inconvenienced once myself this evening, I think it only fair that I return the favor." Just as it was dawning on him that he had been slighted, the beginnings of Dr. Mckay's protest were halted by the arrival of another guest. A tall, dark man with a slight swagger was quickly descending the main stair. He had an eye patch over his left eye, wore a grim look and had an air about him that suggested to the Kolya that this gentleman had seen the darker side of human nature. This was no guessing game—Kolya had met the man before.

"Well, well it's been quite some time hasn't it, Col. Sheppard," the bemused smirk on Kolya's face once again returned, "I wasn't aware her Majesty had been persuaded to pardon your last offense."

The grim look on the tall man's face was quickly replaced with a forced, but still condescending smile. "Nice to see you too detective. I wish I could say the pleasure is all mine, but I was just leaving," Sheppard reached the bottom of the stairs, "you know how the sight of blood bothers me." The last few words were spoken in such an arrogant tone that Kolya had to bite his lip to hold back his sarcasm.

"The good doctor didn't mention anything about blood," Kolya said as he drew out his note pad and readied his pen, "Care to fill me in on the details?"

The smug look erased itself from Sheppard's face, much to Kolya's satisfaction, as he began to regret his choice of words. It was all going to come out anyway, and Sheppard knew that. Quickly reasserting his superior demeanor, the colonel said, "Don't you think it's a little impolite to start without the other guests?"

"You're right, colonel, and you're going to help me collect them," Kolya said as he closed his notebook, "Why don't you introduce me to the bloody one first?"

Silently running all the available options through his military mind, Sheppard decided to concede this match and show Kolya to the scene of the crime. Mckay, silent up to this point, finally launched into a barrage of exclamations,

"Wait, wait, wait. How'd you get here so fast and how do you two know each other!"

Kolya swung around, suddenly very dire. "I think you know the answer to the first question, doctor. As for the second, I assure you, you'd rather not know, but, suffice it to say, the colonel and I have been on opposite sides of the law in the past and I have a feeling tonight will be no different."


End file.
